Mr.Todd Gagne tells The truth in easy to understand words—words that need to be typed BOLD and displayed on every Founder’s Desk: “The parts of your business you don't understand will eventually destroy”
The entire article is Collectible,below quoted are words of GOLD standard:
—The danger of black boxes is clear: you can't fix what you don't understand. But what's less clear is their seductiveness.
—"I should trust the experts I hired." This rationalization feels responsible. Delegation is the mark of a mature leader. But there's a crucial difference between delegation and abdication. When you delegate without understanding, you can't evaluate performance, ask the right questions, or recognize warning signs until it's too late.
—The founder who fosters curiosity creates a culture where learning is the norm. Questions are seen as growth.
Despite her fears, Elena's advisor convinced her to conduct the first 100 customer demos herself before hiring a sales team. Those early calls were awkward. She rambled, got technical too quickly, and missed buying signals.
But something unexpected happened around demo number 30: Elena started seeing patterns. She noticed which features sparked genuine interest versus polite nods. She recognized the specific language customers used to describe their problems—very different from how she had been describing my solution.
By demo 100, Elena had reimagined her product roadmap based on market feedback. When she hired her first salesperson, she knew what to look for and how to evaluate performance.
I’ve been unpacking my black boxes the last two weeks. At first I felt like things outside of my control, but now it’s given me back ownership and confidence in my decision making.
Way easier to map out solutions moving forward!
Glad to read other stories of builders going through similar struggle.
Mr.Todd Gagne tells The truth in easy to understand words—words that need to be typed BOLD and displayed on every Founder’s Desk: “The parts of your business you don't understand will eventually destroy”
The entire article is Collectible,below quoted are words of GOLD standard:
—The danger of black boxes is clear: you can't fix what you don't understand. But what's less clear is their seductiveness.
—"I should trust the experts I hired." This rationalization feels responsible. Delegation is the mark of a mature leader. But there's a crucial difference between delegation and abdication. When you delegate without understanding, you can't evaluate performance, ask the right questions, or recognize warning signs until it's too late.
—The founder who fosters curiosity creates a culture where learning is the norm. Questions are seen as growth.
Thanks for reading and getting value out of the content. It makes my day!!
+ 1 -- great example:
Despite her fears, Elena's advisor convinced her to conduct the first 100 customer demos herself before hiring a sales team. Those early calls were awkward. She rambled, got technical too quickly, and missed buying signals.
But something unexpected happened around demo number 30: Elena started seeing patterns. She noticed which features sparked genuine interest versus polite nods. She recognized the specific language customers used to describe their problems—very different from how she had been describing my solution.
By demo 100, Elena had reimagined her product roadmap based on market feedback. When she hired her first salesperson, she knew what to look for and how to evaluate performance.
Thanks Donna. This was a real scenario that they did gut it out and ended growing as a CEO.
I’ve been unpacking my black boxes the last two weeks. At first I felt like things outside of my control, but now it’s given me back ownership and confidence in my decision making.
Way easier to map out solutions moving forward!
Glad to read other stories of builders going through similar struggle.
Thanks Tamara. You are doing the hard things so it is easier to scale. We love your willingness to dive in and figure it out You will not regret it!!